We don't see Mommy Poppins as just a website, we see it as a community. And we are always looking for ways to make this online space feel more and more like a live community. In that spirit we are adding two new Community Spotlight features.

Every month we will be featuring one Mommy of the Month, an exceptional mom from our community who we want to celebrate, promote, and share. We hope that you will find these posts interesting and inspiring. In addition, the Community Spotlight Billboard will be a free one-week ad slot for any small mommy-run business, artist or event.

We are kicking off our Mommy of the Month series with Melissa Errico, founding member and facilitator of the Bowery Babes moms group and singer/songwriter who just released her first album, Lullabies and Wildflowers, because Melissa has done so much to bring new mothers in her community together. Oh yeah, we also thought it was pretty special that Melissa's latest project is a music CD of lullabies, inspired by the rhythms and feelings of new mothers. An interview with Melissa is below and we hope it inspires you to connect to the families all around you and sing!? 

Two quick announcements before we get to the juicy links:

We now have a preschool listings page with preschool information provided by the Savvy Source. Check it out.

And the winner of our $200 Barefoot Books Giveaway is...announced after the links.

Preschool should be a breeze (you don't even have to know how to read), but in NYC it seems like you need a PhD to navigate through the admissions process. The competitive atmosphere and hype around the preschool application process creates a lot of unnecessary confusion and anxiety. We have created this page in order to attempt to help New York parents navigate the preschool process without the hype and hysteria.

As the weather warms, my job just gets harder and harder, with more great events popping up all the time. I have so many things I want to write about and have been trying to stick to just one a day, but it's looking impossible. Show of hands, how many of you missed yesterday's awesome giveaway because it was the second post? Not too late, go leave a comment and win a $200 gift certificate to Barefoot Books. And keep an eye out for more multiple posts in your inbox (if you subscribe) there's just too much good stuff going on!

Cause it's all about everyone's favorite Jewish holiday - Passover! Perfect for kids, Passover is a great mix of story telling, singing, family time and of course eating. And there is no better place (except maybe Jerusalem) to celebrate Passover than in New York, in fact even the Pope is coming to town this year! Benedict will be heading to services at Park East Synagogue marking just the third visit by any pope to a synagogue in the 2,000 year history of the Roman Catholic Church (weird, right?). So, now that you know its coming, by the way Passover is officially from sundown April 19th through April 27th, its time to get your matzo balls ready.

After the break, Passover resources, recipes, food and events for kids in NYC:

Every few months I get to a point where I feel overwhelmingly bored of all the books my daughter chooses to read and need to find some exciting new ones to lure her away from the endless re-readings of her favorites. The Beeman, one of Barefoot Books' new Spring titles is our most recent savior.

The Beeman teaches about the process of harvesting honey through the story of a boy whose grandpa keeps honeybees and while it's still a bit out of reach for my two year old, she happily listens along and asks for more. The book ends with some solid in-depth science information and a recipe for apple honey muffins.

In New York we are truly spoiled with access to the best of everything, and when it comes to parenting resources it's no different. As New Yorkers, when we have parenting issues or want information, we have access to the top experts in the field, and I'm not talking about on our bookshelf??”I'm talking about face-to-face, direct-to-the-source interaction with the top experts in just about every parenting category. That's how we roll.

And that's the idea behind the Young Child Expo and Conference being held at the Hilton on Friday, April 18th and Saturday, April 19th. This event, hosted by Fordham University and Los Ninos Services, is designed to give parents, educators and early childhood professionals direct contact with the leading experts, resources and information in early childhood development today. One of the unique things about this conference is that it covers the whole spectrum of early childhood development from "normal" to the range of special needs, including Autism.

With an opening keynote from T Berry Brazelton, perhaps the top early childhood expert, to the closing sessions on nutrition and exercise from none other than the experts at Sesame Street, this event is not kidding around when it comes to childhood. I was so impressed with the mission and line-up of this event that I signed on as a media sponsor (doesn't that sound fancy!) to help spread the word about this important event.

The seminars address many of the issues that can be the most confounding for parents with expert advice:

One of the benefits of living in a cultural capitol of the world is that your kids get to enjoy the benefits of trickle-down culture. No, the world class culture in NYC isn't just for grown ups, New York has special ballet, orchestra and even opera companies dedicated to bringing these arts to kids.

Ballet for Preschoolers
Admittedly, neither of my two sons was asking for tickets to a ballet. In fact, as, on our way to see New York Theater Ballet's The Toy Castle, we shared a subway with numerous Yankee fans on opening weekend, I am positive that neither one of my boys was thinking anything, but that they couldn't be happier than to be going to Yankee Stadium.

But, one hour later, wide-eyed eyed and red faced, each walked out of the Francis Gould Theatre wondering why it was that the ballet had to end. True, there is a vast difference between the NYTB??™s ???The Toy Castle??? and ???Swan Lake??? at Lincoln Center, but if you are wondering if your child is ready to take advantage of the World Class Performing Arts our city has to offer, then this production is a great start for you.